Brek Schutten Wins 1st WSOP Bracelet for $1.4 Million

Father. Husband. Nurse. And now Brek Schutten can call himself a WSOP bracelet winner as he triumphed in Event #21: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller 6-Handed at the 2024 World Series of Poker. Schutten was under the bright lights of the WSOP Main Stage in 2022, where he finished runner-up in the $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for $820,808. 

Exactly two years to the day, Schutten avenged that runner-up finish by emerging victorious over the 272-entrant field to claim the $1,405,641 first-place prize and his first WSOP bracelet. This win was the biggest of his career, topping his 2021 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown victory for $1,261,095. Schutten now sits with more than $5,240,000 in lifetime career earnings, according to The Hendon Mob.

"Both insane. Crazy. Completely different. Both bucket list items," Schutten said when comparing his WPT and WSOP victories. "SHRPO stands out just because it was so life-changing at the time. This one stands out because it was a bracelet. Ever since I started playing poker, I've always wanted to win a bracelet."

Event #21 attracted 272 entrants, trumping the 207-entrant field set in 2023. The huge increase in players saw 41 players finish in the money, including Jim Collopy, Nick Petrangelo, Chance Kornuth, Rainer Kempe, Ren Lin, Ethan Yau, Chris Brewer, Ben Tollerene, Erik Seidel, Andrew Lichtenberger, Alex Foxen, Santhosh Suvarna, and Justin Saliba. Only 12 players returned for the final day, and following a sluggish start, the PokerGO livestream would begin with seven players and Tyler Stafman holding the chip lead.

Bulgaria's Ognyan Dimov was the first eliminated when his king-nine fell to Schutten's queen-jack before Masahi Oya followed next when he lost a flip with king-jack suited against the pocket nines of Taylor von Kriegenbergh. Day 1 chip leader Brandon Wilson's run would end in fifth when his king-queen ran head-first into Schutten's pocket kings. Schutten now held roughly 40% of the chips in play as von Kriegenbergh exited in fourth to Michael Rocco. 

Schutten and Rocco were separated by a handful of big blinds while Stafman rounded out the three-handed battle. Schutten pushed out ahead of both his opponents before Rocco made a move out of the small blind and Stafman called correctly to leave just two players. Schutten held nearly a two-to-one advantage, but that was soon flipped when Stafman scored a huge double with pocket jacks against ace-ten. Stafman pushed out to a three-to-one advantage, but Schutten surged back and doubled himself after flopping the nut flush. The final hand would play shortly after when Stafman was all-in with ace-nine against Schutten's ace-queen. The board ran out jack-high, and Schutten was crowned the Event #21 champion.

The part-time nurse and part-time high-roller crusher isn't able to do this alone, as he always has the support of his wife, Jackie. When Schutten won his WPT title, Jackie was unable to be by his side. But that changed today as she witnessed Brek win his first WSOP bracelet.

"Emotional," Jackie said on watching her husband Brek win his first WSOP bracelet. "Just unreal is all I can say. I'm just so proud of this man."

With five kids at home, including four boys and a daughter who is the youngest at two years old, the age-old question is who gets Schutten's first WSOP bracelet: Jackie or one of the kids?

"I already promised the girl yesterday," Jackie said. "Daddy is going to bring you a bracelet home tomorrow."

One WSOP bracelet for the youngest, and four more for Schutten to chase to hand over to the boys. 

2024 WSOP Event #21: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller 6-Handed Results

PGT Leaderboard Top 10

These are the leaderboard standings as of Saturday, June 8, 2024. The complete and current PGT leaderboard is at pgt.com/leaderboard.

Following his victory, Brek Schutten soars into seventh place on the PGT leaderboard with 700 PGT points. Tyler Stafman climbs to 14th with 563 PGT points, while Michael Rocco sits in 27th with 384 PGT points. Other players picking up valuable PGT points to cement their position in the Top 40 include Erik Seidel (20th - 466 PGT points), Ren Lin (22nd - 448 PGT points), Jim Collopy (23rd - 441 PGT points), Andrew Lichtenberger (32nd - 334 PGT points), and Justin Saliba (35th - 325 PGT points).

The next eligible WSOP event to earn PGT points is Event #26: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller 8-Handed, beginning on June 9, followed by Event #29: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship, beginning on June 10.

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